Automobile headlight cleaning system

ABSTRACT

An automobile headlamp cleaning system which comprises a continuous transparent shield which is mounted about the headlamp and substantially prevents dirt from contacting the headlamp. The transparent shield is cleaned automatically by rotating it about the headlamp and bringing it into contact with a spray of cleaning fluid and a brush.

Q United States Patent 1151 3,659,307 Vitou 1 51 May 2, 1972 AUTOMOBILEHEADLIGHT CLEANING Ref rences Cited SYSTEM UNlTED STATES PATENTSInventor: Constantine Vito, 2101 Graham Blvd- 1,196,081 8/1916 Carence..15/250.1 West, Montreal, 16 Quebec, Canada 3,167,348 1/1965Hufenus.... ...15/250. 10 22 Filed: 22 1969 3,456,278 7/1969 Mandy..15/250.02

[2]] Appl No: 852 174 Primary ExaminerRobert W. JenkinsAttorneyFetherstonhaugh & Co.

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data 57] ABSTRACT An automobileheadlamp cleaning system which comprises a July 22, 1969 Canada ..57,720Continuous transparent shield which is mounted about the 52 us. c1..1s/2s0.01, 15/2501 15/25022 headlamp and Substantially Prevents dinfmm macting 51 1111. C1. ..A47l1/00 headlamp The transparent Shield iscleaned automatically by [58] Field of Search ..15/250.1, 250.01,250.22, 250, rotating it about the headlamp and bringing it into Contactwith a spray of cleaning fluid and a brush.

11 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures PATENTEDMAY 21912 7 3, 659,307 SHEET 10F 2Fm; I

INVENTOR Constantino K. VITOU PA TENT AGENTS PATENTEDIIMY 2 I972 I 3.559.307

SHEET 2 BF 2 18 v M W l6 .1 3 3O 0 v W f Emil y '7 IH I IH I mVl-J/Vm/rConstantino K. VITOU AUTOMOBILE HEADLIGHT CLEANING SYSTEM This inventionrelates to motor vehicles and in particular to an automobile headlightcleaning system.

Present day automobiles are equipped with very efficient lights. Theselights have been scientifically designed to project the maximum amountof light onto the surface of the road ahead of the vehicle withoutcausing any glare in the eyes of the on-coming drivers. However, one ofthe very definite hazards of driving is that dirt accumulates on theheadlights and unless they are periodically cleaned the loss ofillumination can be extremely high. This serious problem of course isthe subject of great concern and a number of attempts have been made todevelop means of removing the dirt from headlights so as to reduce thiscause of accidents.

The solutions which have been proposed appear to fall into two majorcategories. One typical solution is illustrated in US. Pat. No.3,423,025 which issued on Jan. 21, 1969. This patent discloses acombination apparatus for cleaning both the windshield and theheadlights and the specific device illustrated is a wide spray whichdirects the cleaning fluid over an area of either the windshield or theheadlight. Such devices, of course, have some merit, however, they dorun into difficulty with the very hard caked layer which frequentlyforms on the headlight and which a spray alone cannot remove.

Another solution to the problem is to incorporate an oscillating brushor rubber wiper much like a windshield wiper on the front surface of theheadlight which when combined with a spray will remove most of the dirtand in some cases the hard caked dirt from the headlight lens. Such adevice is illustrated in US. Pat. No. 3,058,142 which issued on Oct. 16,1962. Such devices although they do offer a solution to the problem,have certain drawbacks. Oscillating brushes and wipers on the headlightlens of course are subject to a tremendous amount of abuse and areeasily damaged. In addition, since they are mounted on the front of thelens they cannot help but reduce the amount of illumination coming fromthe lamps.

It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide animproved means for cleaning headlights which overcomes most of thedisadvantages of the methods disclosed in the prior art.

Accordingly, there is provided an apparatus to substantially eliminatethe dirt from an automobile head lamp lens comprising a continuoustransparent shield mounted about said head lamp so as to substantiallyprevent dirt from coming into contact with said head lamp lens, saidcontinuous transparent shield being adapted to move in front of saidhead lamp lens and means to remove the dirt from said continuoustransparent shield.

The following is a description by way of example of certain embodimentsof the present invention reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of the headlight cleaning system.

FIG. 2 is a schematic drawing of a second embodiment of the headlightcleaning system.

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of further embodiments of portions ofthesystem of FIG. 1.

Referring to FIG. I, it will be seen that the head lamp 11 is mountedwithin a cylindrical transparent shield 12 which is so mounted as to berotatable about its vertical axis. The power to rotate the cylindricalshield 12 is provided by motor 14 which is controlled in turn bypushbutton 15. As the cylindrical shield 12 is rotated, at least one andpreferably two brushes 16 on either side of the assembly rub against theexterior surface. Jets of cleaning fluid emitting from the nozzles 17 oftube 18 wet the surface ofthe screen in the area of the brushes andassist in the cleaning action of the brushes. The flow of cleaning fluidis varied by solenoid valve 19 which is also controlled by the samepushbutton as is the motor 14 driving the cylindrical screen. Areservoir 20 is provided for the cleaning fluid. This reservoir may bethe same reservoir as is used for the cleaning fluid for the windshieldwasher or it may be an entirely independent system as desired.

To operate this mechanism the driver of the vehicle need only depresspushbutton 15. This opens the solenoid valve I9 permitting the cleaningfluid to flow from the reservoir 20 down through the tubing 18 to thenozzles 17 and spray on the surface of the cylindrical transparentshield surrounding the headlamp 11. At the same time the motor 14 isenergized and causes the cylindrical shield 12 to rotate, thus bringinga clean section of the surface of the transparent cylindrical shield 12into the area in front of the head lamp and at the same time cleaningthe cylindrical shield by passing it in front of the cleaning brushes16.

One of the novel features of the present invention is that it willoperate even if there is no cleaning fluid. It is envisaged that justthe cleaning action of the brushes alone will remove some of the dirtfrom the exterior surface of the cylindrical transparent shield. Inaddition, simply by jogging the pushbutton IS the cylindrical shield canbe moved slightly so as to bring a clean area of the shield intoposition in front of the.

head lamp.

FIG. 2 illustrates a somewhat modified version of the head lamp cleaningsystem. In the first embodiment the cylindrical screen 12 would probablybe of a fairly rigid material. In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 2the screen is formed of a flexible transparent material and is caused torotate about a series of vertical rollers.

The operation of this apparatus is very similar to that illustrated inFIG. 1. The operator of the vehicle need only depress the pushbutton 15in order to energize the motor 14 and open the solenoid valve 19allowing cleaning fluid from the reservoir 20 to flow down through thetubes 18 to the nozzle 17 and spray on the transparent shield 22 justabout at the spot at which this transparent shield comes into contactwith the brushes 16. The motor 14 drives only one of the rollers 30 andthe other rollers 31, 32 and 33 are idler rollers and rotate simply bytheir contact with the moving transparent flexible shield. The head lamp11 located within the periphery of the transparent shield is mounted inmuch the same way as it would normally be in a vehicle except thatpassage must be allowed between the head lamp and the frame of thevehicle to permit the transparent shield to pass about the head lamp.

The brushes 16 which are used to clean the exterior of the transparentshield may be motor driven as shown in FIG. 3 to improve the cleaningaction. These brushes I6 may be driven by the same motor which drivesthe transparent shield or a separate drive may be provided as shown.

The embodiment of the head lamp cleaning system illustrated in FIG. 1lends itself to being sealed. This can be done by having a rubber sealabout the bottom part of the cylindrical screen 12 which will preventmoisture and dirt from entering the inside of the cylindrical screen andprevent it from coming in contact with the head lamp lens. A top surface34 can be built into this cylindrical screen thus completely sealing thehead lamp from the exterior environment.

Since it would be more difficult to seal the head lamp cle aning systemillustrated in FIG. 2, some access may be provided to permit the insideof the flexible transparent shield to be cleaned manually from time totime.

It is recognized that in either of the embodiments illustrated in FIGS.1 and 2 the transparent shield 12 can be mounted to rotate about thevertical or the horizontal axis as shown in FIG. 3. One configurationwill fit the frame of a specific automobile better than the others andit is believed that this will be the deciding factor as to which isused.

An important advantage of the present head lamp washer, aside from itsability to actually prevent dirt from coming into contact with the headlamp and removing the dirt from the area in front of the head lamp isthat some small section of the cylindrical shield passing about the headlamp may be made of a different material. For example, it is envisagedas part of the present invention that an orange fog light material canbe incorporated into part of the shield surrounding the head lamp. Thusby jogging the pushbutton 15 and bringing the cylindrical shield into apredetermined location the head lamps of the vehicle can be transformedfrom normal headlights into fog lights. A second advantage of thissystem is that by allowing the cylindrical shield to rotate continuouslythe head-lamp would be changed from a continuous white light into analternating yellow and white light. Such a lighting system could be usedto advantage in emergencies.

It is believed that the head lamp washer of the present invention hasmany advantages and will greatly add to safety on our highways. Thiswould be done primarily by improving the illuminating effect of the headlamps by removing the dirt from the surface ahead of the head lamp whereit normally accumulates and secondly by offering various ways by whichthis cleaning effect can take place. The cleaning is accomplished in thenormal manner by a combination of brush action and cleaning fluid,however, if for example, the cleaning fluid.

reservoir is empty some cleaning action can be obtained by simplyrotating the transparent shield to cause it to rub against the brushes.Lastly, a clean section of the transparent shield can be moved intoposition in front of the head lamp by jogging the control button 15.This can be done three or four times before it becomes necessary toactually get out of the vehicle and manually clean the surface in frontof the head lamp. Most drivers are reluctant to do this especially inbad weather and most especially when there is a great deal of trafficabout since this can be a very dangerous procedure.

The second advantage of the present invention is the fact that itpermits normal headlights to be transformed into fog lights or flashingemergency lights should this become, necessary.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property orprivilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. An apparatus for substantially removing dirt from the light path ofan automobile head lamp comprising, a head lamp stationarily positionedto direct light along a light path, a tubular, continuous transparentshield encircling the head lamp so as to substantially prevent dirt fromcoming into contact with the lens of the head lamp, one end of saidtubular shield including means for receiving the head lamp mountingstherethrough, means for moving the shield around the head lamp wherebydifferent parts of the shield are successively placed in the light pathof the head lamp, and a cleaning means for removing dirt from theexterior surface of said shield, said cleaning means comprising at leastone brush positioned against the outside of the shield at a point out ofthe light path of a head lamp.

2. An apparatus according to claim 1, including a spray means forspraying a liquid onto the exterior surface of the shield in thevicinity of the brush.

3. An apparatus according to claim 1, said shield being of a flexiblematerial.

4. The apparatus as claimed in claim. 3 in which said continuousflexible shield is mounted so as to move in a path about a verticalaxis. I

5. The apparatus as claimed in claim 3 in which said continuous flexibleshield is mounted so as to move in a path about a horizontal axis.

6. An apparatus according to claim 1, including a means for rotatingsaid brush.

7. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which said continuoustransparent shield is a rigid cylinder.

8. An apparatus as claimed in claim 7 in which said cylinder is sealedat both ends.

9. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which said transparent shieldis mounted so as to rotate about a vertical axis.

10. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which said transparent shieldis mounted so as to rotate about a horizontal axis.

11. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which part of said continuousshield is orange in color.

1. An apparatus for substantially removing dirt from the light path ofan automobile head lamp comprising, a head lamp stationarily positionedto direct light along a light path, a tubular, continuous transparentshield encircling the head lamp so as to substantially prevent dirt fromcoming into contact with the lens of the head lamp, one end of saidtubular shield including means for receiving the head lamp mountingstherethrough, means for moving the shield around the head lamp wherebydifferent parts of the shield are successively placed in the light pathof the head lamp, and a cleaning means for removing dirt from theexterior surface of said shield, said cleaning means comprising at leastone brush positioned against the outside of the shield at a point out ofthe light path of a head lamp.
 2. An apparatus according to claim 1,including a spraY means for spraying a liquid onto the exterior surfaceof the shield in the vicinity of the brush.
 3. An apparatus according toclaim 1, said shield being of a flexible material.
 4. The apparatus asclaimed in claim 3 in which said continuous flexible shield is mountedso as to move in a path about a vertical axis.
 5. The apparatus asclaimed in claim 3 in which said continuous flexible shield is mountedso as to move in a path about a horizontal axis.
 6. An apparatusaccording to claim 1, including a means for rotating said brush.
 7. Anapparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which said continuous transparentshield is a rigid cylinder.
 8. An apparatus as claimed in claim 7 inwhich said cylinder is sealed at both ends.
 9. An apparatus as claimedin claim 1 in which said transparent shield is mounted so as to rotateabout a vertical axis.
 10. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in whichsaid transparent shield is mounted so as to rotate about a horizontalaxis.
 11. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which part of saidcontinuous shield is orange in color.